Bottle-stopper.



A. K. LOVELL.

BOTTLE STOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1912.

Patented Aug. 5, 1913.

/III//II/II/I r/////11//// [N VEN TOR WITNESSES ALBERT K. "rev ew, ornew HAVEN, Connncricur.

BOTTLESTOFIPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented Aug. 5,1913.

Application filed September 19, 1912. Saris-1N0. 721,327.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it that I, Anemia K. LovnLL, a citizen of "the United States ofAmerica, and resident of New Haven, in the "county of New Haven andState of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improve'mentsin Battle-Stoppers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a bottle stopper and has for its object toprovide bottle closure mechanism which. shall within itself contain allthe elements necessary to enable it to be applied to the'ordinary formof bottle or jar, without special construction of the bottle, 01:attachment to it of a art of the stopper mechanism separate om theremainder, but which may readily be a plied "or removed bodily withoutthe aid of mechanical contrivances and positively held and secured by aresisting abutment comprising the ordinary flange, rim or bead commonlyfound on bottles and jars.

The specification and drawings comprise a substitute application inrenewal of an application filed June 5, l911,'Serial Numher 633,338 andinadvertently abandoned A st 5, 1912.

he invention consists in the novel clo-' sure mechanism and arrangement,construction and combination of arts as more fully hereinafter describedand claimed. I

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 is an elevation of a bottle fitted with my improved closure.Fig. 2 a central, vertical cross section through 1. Fig. 3 is a similarsectidn through if e external screw cap, but showing" the remainingparts in elevation. and art section, and with the mechanisms un stened,or in the operation of bemg applied to or removed from a bottle. Fig. '4is an elevation similar to Fig. l of a modification of the deviceembodying the principle of'cams instead 'of a screw for ,forcmg theparts to place. Fig. 5 is a simila-r elevation with the parts in theposition for bein applied to or removed from the bottle. ig. 6 is acentral vertical, cross section of 5, and Fig. 7 is a horizontal crosssection through 13g. 4 on the line 7, 7

Referring to the drawings, 1 denotes the neck of an ordinary bottle,formed the usual flange, rim or head, '2, around its mouth or opening,3. Said rim or. bead usually comprises "an external enlargement of theneck, provided mainily to stren then and reinforce it for the'insertionof a cork, and it is generally found of varying thickness and depth inbottles of every size and description. It necessarily forms an annularshoulder .4 on'the neck, at its lower side, which shoulder has beenemployed as an abutment for various devices for securing the cork orclosure of the bottle in place. lit performs this function in theapplication of my improved bottle stopper, which is described asfollows: I

Upon the neck of the bottle is received a tubular ferrule5 having itsupper part loosely fitting around the rim or bead 2 and formed with ascrew thread 6. Below the thread the ferrule is of-expanding diameter,

or slightly conical increasing in size downdownward in anoutwa-rdlyexpanding collar 8, which is provided for, the purpose (if-grippingand'holding the ferrule, in the adjustment and fastening-of the closurein place 'on the neck of the bottle. The ferrule is formed with verticalslits 9 extending from its threaded portion to the bottom of thegripping collar, whereby such part is virtually divided into a series ofsections or flaps 10 for the purpose of rendering it expansible andadapting the flange 7 to be slipped over the bead 2 and then sprunginwardly to engage it.

Fitted to screw upon the threaded part of the ferrule is a cylindricalscrew threaded cap 11, provided with a disk 6 of cork or other suitablematerial at its upper end inside the shell thereof, which forms thebottle closure or stopper when the cap is screwed down upon the ferruleto engage the disk with the mouth of the bottle, as shown in Fig. 2. Inthe operation of ap lying the device to and sealing a bottle, t eferrule is held in the proper position and from turnafter passing thethreaded part of the ferrule will.eng'age-.the smooth conical partthereof below the thread, and by its camlift ill

till

l0 and engage the flange 'l with the shoulder ming action thereon willcontract the flaps of the neclr of the bottle, whereby the action of thescrew in forcing the dish down upon the mouth of the bottle, iscounterbalanced by thev reactively upward strain and hold of the flange'l upon the shoulder.

if the ferrule is of spring material and its normal shape is that inwhich the flange is engaged with the shoulder of the bottle, then theaction of the screw cap will be confined to holding the ferrule in suchengagement with the shoulder, and in the act of removin the ferrule thesections will yield and spring outwardly in passing over the shoulder.(in the other hand if the normal shape of the ferrule is its state ofenpansion, then the cap will cam it to place on the neclr of the bottleas well as hold it in such position. if the ferrule he made of inelasticmaterial, then in the act of oeing forced over the bead 2 the sectionswill be expanded, and the cap will subsequently cam them. into grapplingengagement with the shoulder, and hold them there. All of these effectsare contemplated in the use of the invention, dependent uponcircumstances, but it is important that the screw threads of the ferruleshould be wholly separated from the grappling sections, and that theinward cammingaction upon the sections, by the cap, or the function ofhold-- ing them in the engaged position should be performed by a smoothannular part of the cap in engagement with smooth and unthreadedsurfaces upon the sections instead of threadedsurfaces, for whichpurpose the non threaded part of the cap below the thread is provided.

in the constructive detail of the mechanism, it is preferable to makethe ferrule as a split ring, or non continuous by cutting itlongitudinally as indicated by the division 12 in Fig. 3. This enablesthe ferrule to be closed in and entered into the cap without beingscrewed therein, in connection with which result, if the lower ends orterminals of both the thread of the ferrule and that of the cap. beprovided with stop shoulders respectively designated by the characters13 and "i l, in Figs. 3 and i, such shoulders will actas stop mechanismfor preventing the cap from being unscrewed from the ferrule beyond thelimits of the threads and removed therefrom. By this arrangementthe capand ferrule may be always kept together, and both wholly removed from orapplied to the bottle atone operation. lhe a vantage of this, not onlyfor the purpose of cleanin the parts, but for convenience in applying te device to or removing itfrom the bottle, and also preventingmi'slaying or losing the part, or screwing them together'with thethreads crossed and thereby injuring them, is of the utmost importance.

Though the ferrule cannot project more the mouth of the bottle, as thecap its dislr must be screwed down into contact with the neck, theznouth of the bottle may project above the ferrule, asshown inthedrawingahence a particular size of stopper is not confined to aparticular height of the rim or beach-but may be used with variousheights of the head, up to the point where the ferrule is flush with the'mouth of the bottle. This provides for adjustment of the device toconform to various sizes of head in which the diameter remainsunchanged.

Figs. 4- to 7 inclusive illustrate a modilication of the invention inwhich the cap 2i is formed with a pair of opposite cam slots 22, takingthe place of the screw thread, and the ferrule 23 has a pair of externalpins or projections Qtengaging the slots. With this construction the capcan be turned on the ferrule only about a half revolution, and the camslots, to provide the'required range of movement of the cap are made ofabrupt or steep pitch in their central parts, and of lesser pitchcorresponding to that of the screw threads at the ends, where theyengage the pins when the cap is screwed to place, as shown in Fig. ll,or in its extreme released position as indicated in Figs. 5 and 8. Withthe enoeption of the pins in place of screw threads the ferrule is ofthe sac construction as that shown in Figs. l, d and 3, the split ringconstruction enablingit to be placed within the cap by springing, andthe pins thus engaged with the cam slots, and operating as stops toprevent the dis connection of the parts. it is evident that the slotscould. be cut through to the lower edge of the cap as indicated by thedotted lines a" in Fig. l to permit the removal of the cap from theferrule when the same comprises a solid ring instead of being madeeapansible. The top edge of the cap should be provided with a milledband we to facilitats a hold upon it in removing it. i claim as myinvention;

1. A bottle closure comprising in combi nation a ferrule for claspin theneclr of the bottle, provided with yiel g grappling sections forengaging the shoulder of the of the grappling sections from the flangeand holding the parts together when removed from the bottle.

2. The combination of a. bottle closing cap, a ferrule fitted within thecaphaving @lll Elli

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expansible holding sections and abutments for grappling the flange ofthe bottle, means for drawing the cap axially on the ferrule to compressthe expansible sections upon the flange by reaction of the cap againstthe mouth of the bottle, and stops for limiting the motion of the cap inthe reverse direction after disengagement of the grappling sections tohold the parts together when removed from the bottle.

The combination of a ferrule for clasping the neck of a bottle, providedwith yielding grappling sections for engaging the shoulder of the neckflange, a closure cap revolubly mounted thereon, means coacting betweenthe cap and ferrule for drawing the cap axially of the ferrule in itsrevolution thereon to close the bottle by draft of the partsrespeptively against the mouth and neck flange, and stops for limitingthe rotary movement of the cap on the ferrule after disengagement of thegrappling sections, from the flange, the ferrule being slittedlongitudinally throughout to admit of closure for admission into the capand passing of the stops to place.

4. A bottle closure oomprisin in combination a screw threaded ferrule orclasping the neck of a bottle provided with yielding grapplin sectionsindependent of the screw threads $01 engaging the shoulder of the neckflange, a closure cap'mounted thereon in screw threaded engagement withthe ferrule,-and provided with an annular part i n dependent of thescrew threads inclosi-ng the grappling sections, and stops for limitingthe movement of the cap on the ferrule after disengagement of thegrappling sections from the flange to hold the parts together afterremoval from the bottle.

5. A bottle closure comprising in combination a ferrule for clasping theneck of abottle provided with yielding grappling sectionsfor engagingthe shoulder of the neck flange and screw threaded above the grape plingsections and. a screw threaded closure cap mounted thereon having 'adisk fitted within it for closing the mouth of the bottle, the threadsof the respective parts having .terminal shoulders at the ends fromwhich they would part from each other in disengaging the closure fromthe bottle, whereby the parts are held together when removed from thebottle.-

Signed by me at New Haven, New Haven county, Connecticut, this 16th dayof Sep tember, 1912.

ALBERT K. LOVELL.

